1

Hi there,

In the Advanced Search box on the right hand side of page type in Car & Driver, Sri Lanka and you will get numerous threads with suggestions and reccomendations.

2

Good one for Touts!!

Check the link given below

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2200396

When you read the above link top to the bottom you can find link which post by Sandra with lot of travel companies who provide you the cars and drivers and also very few recommendations of users.

we do not like guides who rely on taking us to frinds shops etc- )))))

then you can travel only by public transport.

Sandra

3

Hi,
My recommendation is Gorgeous Lanka,
Reasonable and trustworthy. specially safe drivers among crazy drivers and bad traffic in in SL.
gorgeouslanka@gmail.com is the contact address.
Rony

4

We just got back from Sri Lanka and our driver actually didn't take us round shops etc. He tried to get a sense of what we wanted and made an effort to give us that (which only included a shop, once, at our request). He even gave us a call after we arrived back home to see how we were (we had a very rushed goodbye on the way to the airport).

Hi name was Nadeem with Oceanic Tours (Negombo), who will probably send you a PM after a post like this ... I can track down the number if required. Another thing I appreciated in this company was that they didn't push itineraries or hotel bookings on us.

5

Hi!I had a wonderful time in SL in June with a guy called Gerard (prasad_alexander@yahoo.com) and his lovely family.He owns a lovely place in Kandy (homestay family but you have your own apartment with a great view of rolling hills).He can drive you around SL.

Good luck!

6

hello,try browse through the forum and you'll find good recomedations and then google the given name, if not enough, look for previous clients. That's how I do. ha..ha..ha I'll send you a pm.! but check for yourself
agostino

7

Hi,

I'm back from my Sri Lanka trip in the meanwhile and have to say unfortunately: DO NOT use Gorgeous Sri Lanka. Although they claim they only provide "drivers service" and work with no commissions, the whole trip was built around them collecting commissions!
The Driver wouldn't listen at all to our "requests" - just a couple of examples: we asked to be dropped off in Kandy city to find a hotel, he drives up the mountains to a hotel where of course he collects commissions... after long fight and a lot of "bs" from his side, he finally drove us back to the city. We ask to stop at the Tsunami monument, when we asked him if it was still far, his answer was "oh we already drove past it, didn't you see it?" (of course no commission to collect there, so why stop :)), lunch/dinner: at these typical "tourist" places, where you can only do "buffet style" at outrages prices... when we asked him to drive us into town, he refuses with the "bs" that "it's not safe there etc.". Basically, he only stopped when there were commissions to collect and when we asked for something different, it always resulted in a long (and hard) conversation why we didn't want to go along with his "recommended hotel or restaurant or site" and why we wanted something different... and with emotional blackmail from his side (like: "oh, but I'm responsible for your life, so you need to thrust me when I want you to eat here... I don't want you to get killed, I want you to be safe... bla bla bla).

Given I can only take short leaves from my work, we usually hire a driver in order to safe us time to travel around, so we've had experience with drivers before... But this time, it was just a nightmare... defintely go for another organisation and don't use Gorgeous Sri Lanka... that's my best advice after my Sri Lanka trip...

Sieppy

(Sorry Ronny to disagree with you; glad you did have a good experience with them).

8

Good that you are inform this to the community.

How did you found them?

This is happens for the most of the travelers. Unfortunately they are not sending any thread for any forum.

90% drivers are doing the same.

You have to be very carefully for selecting good driver and he can spoil your entire holiday.

Don’t get court TTT ( Thorn Tree Touts)

Sandra

9

Hello,
If you are looking for a driver to travel in Sri Lanka, we warmly recommend you Nazar. He has been a taxi driver in Dubai and in Qatar for several years. Therefore he drives very well, fast but carefully and is very friendly. His rate was quite cheap and he can also book some accommodation (very good one at low price) if you wish. We hired him for 7 days in total two weeks ago. We had arranged our own itinerary but Nazar gave us some helpful advice. He speaks quite good English.
Here is his e-mail address: nazar2007s@yahoo.com. He always replies very quickly.
Enjoy this wonderful country that we are already missing!

10

Thanks JulesSwitzerland for the recommendation. We've just come back from a two week tour of Sri Lanka and I'm happy to recommend, Nazar (nazar2007@yahoo.com). We contacted him by email and text following your recommendation. He was quick to respond and straightforward to deal with by email and text.

He was polite and courteous throughout the two weeks and showed a good sense of humour once he got to know us. Honest and straightforward. We were able to leave our bags and travel documentation with him in the car while we went off exploring - he was completely reliable and trustworthy.

He was a good driver (careful by SL standards!).

One of the real plus points was his willingness to fit in with our itinerary which included a trip to Jaffna. He was happy to make recommendations but always in a non-pushy way. He wasn't overbearing at all and allowed us to enjoy our holiday as well as see the sights.

When we did take his advice, it was spot on. He found us a couple of great hotels at a much better rate than I might have achieved.

Very happy to recommend him

11

Hi

Just contact wolley de silva , true wolley_pdesilva@yahoo.com authorized driver from sri lanka tourist board .

yashming

12

hi,

im really glad to pass contact info of local driver/guide in sri lanka,

name- mr karnal de silva
web- http://www.karnaldesilva.com/

thanks ,

ian